ASTA Backs DOT Airfare Advertising Updates, Wants Total Price Transparency
by Daniel McCarthy
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is throwing its support behind the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) efforts to update federal airfare advertising rules, but it is drawing a firm line against scrapping the requirement that travelers see the full ticket price upfront.
In comments filed with the DOT this week, ASTA, responding to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Enhancing Flexibility of Air Fare Price Advertising, advocated for targeted regulatory updates that ease compliance burdens on advisors without sacrificing consumer price transparency.
Specifically, ASTA said that it supports eliminating the restrictions on how individual airfare components—base fares, taxes, and fees—are broken down visually, as long as the overall total price remains at least as prominent as any itemized costs.
“Travelers deserve to know the full price of an airline ticket from the outset, but the federal government does not need to dictate every formatting decision used to present that information,” said Zane Kerby, ASTA President and CEO. “DOT’s targeted proposal offers a sensible balance by preserving meaningful price transparency while removing outdated requirements that create unnecessary compliance burdens.”
ASTA, however, drew a hard line against a complete repeal of the Full Fare Rule. Scrapping the requirement entirely, ASTA said, would complicate comparison shopping and introduce disjointed, confusing pricing models across different booking channels.
ASTA also backed the DOT’s plan to rescind outdated, legacy airfare advertising guidance documents, urging the department to ensure future guidance reflects modern digital distribution—including online booking engines, Global Distribution Systems (GDS), supplier direct channels, and direct advisor-client workflows.
Highlighting the operational reality for the trade, ASTA noted that the Full Fare Rule applies directly to ticket agents and travel agencies, 97% of which are classified as small businesses. Because advisors rely heavily on third-party GDS and reservation platforms, they often have zero control over how underlying fare data and tax structures are presented on screen.
“Travel advisors generally do not construct airfares or determine how taxes and mandatory charges appear within supplier systems,” Kerby added. “They need clear, practical, and technology-neutral rules that can be applied consistently across booking channels without creating compliance risk based on presentation choices beyond their control.”
